Fractions with Moby Lesson Plan: What Are Fractions and How Are They Used?

Submitted by: Samantha Lewis

Grade Levels: K-3

In this lesson plan, which is adaptable for grades K-3, students use BrainPOP Jr. resources to learn what fractions are and how they are used. Students also use hands-on materials to explore fraction amounts in a cooperative learning activity.

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

Grade: 01

CCSS.Math.Content.1.G.A.3

Partition circles and rectangles into two and four equal shares, describe the shares using the words halves, fourths, and quarters, and use the phrases half of, fourth of, and quarter of. Describe the whole as two of, or four of the shares. Understand for these examples that decomposing into more equal shares creates smaller shares.

Grade: 02

CCSS.Math.Content.2.G.A.2

Partition a rectangle into rows and columns of same-size squares and count to find the total number of them.

Grade: 02

CCSS.Math.Content.2.G.A.3

Partition circles and rectangles into two, three, or four equal shares, describe the shares using the words halves, thirds, half of, a third of, etc., and describe the whole as two halves, three thirds, four fourths. Recognize that equal shares of identical wholes need not have the same shape.

Grade: 03

CCSS.Math.Content.3.NF.A.1

Understand a fraction 1/b as the quantity formed by 1 part when a whole is partitioned into b equal parts; understand a fraction a/b as the quantity formed by a parts of size 1/b.

Students will:

Learn what a fraction is.
Learn how fractions are used.

Materials:

Access to BrainPOP Jr.
Paper
Printouts of the Write About It activity from BrainPOP Jr.
Pencils
Cut out, flattened circles of Play Dough or clay
Individual dry erase boards
Colored counters

Vocabulary:

whole; part; fraction

Preparation:

Preview the Basic Parts of a Whole movie, print the Write About It worksheet and make copies for the whole class. Print the activity page worksheet and make copies. Buy a box of cookies for use in fraction project.

Lesson Procedure:

Share the Belly Up comic with your class to spark their interest in the topic of fractions.
Show the BrainPOP Jr. Basic Parts of a Whole movie, pausing as Annie asks new questions throughout the movie, so students have a chance to discuss the question and what they may or may not already know about this topic (also a good time to have students work on their note taking skills.)
Break the class into groups of 2 and have them take the Hard Quiz together.
After taking the quiz, explain to the students that you will now be doing a project using cookies to learn more about how fractions can apply to everyday life.
Give each student in the class a cookie.
Write a fraction on the board, one at a time, (start with 1/2, then 1/3, 2/3, etc.) and have your students break the cookies into the fractions you show them. Check their work as they go to make sure the fractions are correct.
For extra practice, have your students use colored counters and white boards to practice making different fractions with a partner.
Have the first partner choose how many red and how many yellow counters there will be. Then, have them ask, "What fraction of the group is red/yellow?"
Then the second partner will put the counters on their board and write the fraction correctly. Have the partners switch jobs and compare their answers.
Have the students think about the fractions around them in a real life setting. Ask students, "Where do we see fractions in the classroom?" or "Where do we see fractions when we're at home?"
Have students write about what they learned about fractions on printed copies of the Write About It activity, or have them type directly into the form and print it.

Extension Activity:

As an extension, have students email typed copies of their "Write About It" activities to timandmoby@brainpop.com.

Filed as: Basic Parts of a Whole, CCSS.Math.Content.1.G.A.3, CCSS.Math.Content.2.G.A.2, CCSS.Math.Content.2.G.A.3, CCSS.Math.Content.3.NF.A.1, Dig It, Drop Zone, Equivalent Fractions, Fractions, K-3, Lesson Plan, Math, Mixed Numbers, More Fractions, Teaching Resources, Teaching Tips, Teaching Tools, fractions

Lesson Plan